Phil Housley discussion thread

[Sabre Dance]

A winning successful coach that has been fired. Give me any of them. It's not difficult.

 

[wunderpanda]

Varada

 

[Willgamesh]

honestly, Nolan may be what this team needs

Team often simply does not compete night in night out. If this team played as hard as the tank team did, they'd be a 115 point team

At least zemgod would pick it up.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

Proven at what? Getting fired?

Seriously, if a guy is available and 30 other teams aren't interested there's probably a reason. Hockey is kinda a good ol' boys league in that sense.

I don't think you can hold Housley against all other assistants- if they have a proven resume it's worth a talk at least. All depends on the interview, if he just chews gum and says things are fine.. no. But if he shares solid ideas on how to make the most of this team..

Keefe- definitely, sure.

Ruff- f***. No. Definition of old school hockey and the team just tuned him out the last couple years. The optics as well.. no. Don't go backwards.

 

[truthbluth]

A winning successful coach that has been fired. Give me any of them. It's not difficult.

Bylsma is out there.

 

[truthbluth]

they all get fired

Cooper (Never fired, 18 years, 5 leagues), Babcock (Fired once in 1993, 30 years, 5 leagues), and of course, Keefe (Never fired, 12 years, 3 leagues) don't know what you mean.

 

[truthbluth]

The whole, "No first time head coaches this time," is eerily reminiscent of two years ago, "no damn retreads this time."
Housley's problem is not that he's a first time head coach in the league, it's that he isn't a good head coach. And nothing matters anyway. The Pegulas don't even care about the Sabres anymore. Both Housley and Botterill will get forever long leashes. And Sheldon Keefe will go to Anaheim and be their coach for the next 10 years.

 

[Willgamesh]

The whole, "No first time head coaches this time," is eerily reminiscent of two years ago, "no damn retreads this time."
Housley's problem is not that he's a first time head coach in the league, it's that he isn't a good head coach. And nothing matters anyway. The Pegulas don't even care about the Sabres anymore. Both Housley and Botterill will get forever long leashes. And Sheldon Keefe will go to Anaheim and be their coach for the next 10 years.

You make good points, its not about getting a vet coach. or not giving the job to a new guy. It should all be about finding a Great coach.

 

[Jim Bob]

1) Quenneville

2) Keefe

3) Ralph Krueger

But, I'm going to guess that Chris Taylor is the next Sabres head coach.

 

[brian_griffin]

For the premiere candidates - you make your own list: Q, Keefe, now add Carlyle, etc. - you need to think of the other teams which either have now, or will have in the offseason, head coach openings, and ask yourself if the BUF situation can seriously out-merit other NHL teams.

"Who (sic) do you want as a coach?" is an OK question.

The perhaps more appropriate question is "Whom do you think the Sabres / Pegulas can actually hire?"

 

[brian_griffin]

For the premiere candidates - you make your own list: Q, Keefe, now add Carlyle, etc. - you need to think of the other teams which either have now, or will have in the offseason, head coach openings, and ask yourself if the BUF situation can seriously out-merit other NHL teams.

"Who (sic) do you want as a coach?" is an OK question.

The perhaps more appropriate question is "Whom do you think the Sabres / Pegulas can actually hire?"

 

[OkimLom]

For the premiere candidates - you make your own list: Q, Keefe, now add Carlyle, etc. - you need to think of the other teams which either have now, or will have in the offseason, head coach openings, and ask yourself if the BUF situation can seriously out-merit other NHL teams.

"Who (sic) do you want as a coach?" is an OK question.

The perhaps more appropriate question is "Whom do you think the Sabres / Pegulas can actually hire?"

Based on their past coaching hires, it scares me who Pegula/Sabres will WANT to hire.

 

[brian_griffin]

I would give Housley until Christmas 2019. We average more than half of our lineup each game with guys not here last year. We are playing 6 guys in their first full year (if Thompson and Smith play) in the nhl. Botts has to sign Skinner, find a good stay at home defence man to shut down at end of games. He needs to dump some guys that are has beens, wannabes or never" wases" He needs to hit on the draft choices he has this year not that they are likely to help right away. Housley has to get these guys to commit to playing 5 man hockey and make sure the best 20 are playing every night. The power play has to get consistently better and that is coaching--we have the talent for a darn good PP1. If we are not comfortably in a playoff position at that time then his ass is grass.

Fully appreciate your points about turnover in the roster, need for youth to continue to develop, better net talent overall, etc.

I have seen a more consistent effort this season. Better 1st period starts, more games where the intensity and desire is there for >20 minutes. I still don't think Housley is capable of out-coaching any of the usual-suspect Eastern team's coaches in the playoffs, and I don't think the Sabres will have talent which so over-whelms the opponent it will make up for Housley's tactical nonchalance, whether that's perceived or real.

Could I wait until Christmas 2019? Obviously yes. Is there a probability BUF could obtain a better interim or permanent coach during the 2019-20 mid-season than they could between now and the draft? I'm doubtful.

 

[itwasaforwardpass]

For the premiere candidates - you make your own list: Q, Keefe, now add Carlyle, etc.

 

[Sabre Dance]

Bylsma is out there.

Yeah. So are others That's what you hire, fired coaches. Your chances of winning are better than going with a 1st time coach

 

[Beerz]

Bylsma is out there.

So is Dallas Eakins. For every vet coach you can mock ...I can follow up with the up and coming coach that is a disaster

 

[itwasaforwardpass]

I want Trotz or Julien...sigh

How many years does Boudreu have left on his contract? I wanted to fire Bylsma and get Boudreau last time he was available.

 

[Baccus]

Dallas Eakins is actually probably the front runner for the Ducks job in the offseason. They didn't want to disrupt their minor league team were he's currently coaching.

Apparently he's done quite the job working himself back up the coaching ladder.

I want Trotz or Julien...sigh

How many years does Boudreu have left on his contract? I wanted to fire Bylsma and get Boudreau last time he was available.

I'm actually kind of hoping Boudreau gets canned in Minn (not sure what their GM is up to, and it's probably unlikely) and we can go after him in the offseason.

 

[truthbluth]

So is Dallas Eakins. For every vet coach you can mock ...I can follow up with the up and coming coach that is a disaster

Eakins was rushed. He only had 4 years of total head coaching experience before being given the job in Edmonton with one of the worst rosters in the league. He'll be an NHL head coach again, and a good one. If Anaheim doesn't hire Keefe, I bet it's Eakins, and I bet it works.
But people are out here talking about Randy f'n Carlyle?
No coach is a sure thing, but the only vet name out there that doesn't seem like a cowardly safe pick is Q (eh, Vignault too), and I doubt either comes here.
The game is changing. Coaching is changing. Players are making the league at younger and younger ages. A lot of us are gunshy because Housley has been such a train wreck, but the right move, imo, is to get somebody who has experience coaching younger players, and has had success at multiple levels.

 

[Beerz]

Eakins was rushed. He only had 4 years of total head coaching experience before being given the job in Edmonton with one of the worst rosters in the league. He'll be an NHL head coach again, and a good one. If Anaheim doesn't hire Keefe, I bet it's Eakins, and I bet it works.
But people are out here talking about Randy f'n Carlyle?
No coach is a sure thing, but the only vet name out there that doesn't seem like a cowardly safe pick is Q (eh, Vignault too), and I doubt either comes here.
The game is changing. Coaching is changing. Players are making the league at younger and younger ages. A lot of us are gunshy because Housley has been such a train wreck, but the right move, imo, is to get somebody who has experience coaching younger players, and has had success at multiple levels.

Well I dont want Carlyle

 

[truthbluth]

Well I dont want Carlyle

On that, it seems we agree.

 

[Punished ROR]

Agree with you about Quenneville. He was an unsuccessful head coach with Avalanche coach albeit the strike year did impact his stay here. But I always felt he benefitted greatly in his early years with the Blackhawks due to Stan Bowman efforts rather than his own.

I was not a Q fan during those years. His love affair with plugs, his amazing ability to destroy his own goalies’ confidence, his seeming inability to make in-game adjustments, etc. Yeah, I wanted him out, and I was happy when he got axed—like a lot of other Avs fans at the time.

The first Chicago cup came as a surprise. I thought the Hawks won despite Q, not because of him. Obviously, the Hawks had even more success over the years since then. Meanwhile, the Avs have missed the playoffs in seven out of the ten years since Q left, and haven’t made it out of the first round since Q’s last year.

Were those 05-06 to 07-08 Avs teams really capable of more? Maybe it’s just the bad memories, but when I revisit those rosters, I don’t see a good team. I see a team trying to hang on and compete in Sakic’s last few years (understandably), when a rebuild was badly needed.

I’m not saying I think Q is great. He might be, he might not be. I’ve been wrong enough times to admit that I don’t know when it comes to coaches. At least from looking at Q’s success in Chicago, you can reasonably say that a talented team can with him at the helm. From a fan’s limited perspective, that’s a damn good sign.

 

[Baccus]

Well I dont want Carlyle

I would sincerely hope very very few people would want Carlyle as coach.

 

[Fezzy126]

Q has deep and direct ties to Fletcher, if he jumps right back into coaching my guess is that he's signing with Philly.

As for the rest of the choices, if you can't get a Trotz, Babcock, Boudreau, or a few other debatable names (DeBoer, Laviolette, Cooper, Gallant), I think most of these guys are the same. I've made the comparison to Winnipeg a few days ago, but IMO the rest of the field of NHL coaches = Paul Maurice. They've all been raised in the same school of thought, they all employ the same foundational systems; In zone defense, uncontrolled zone exits, neutral zone strategies, etc. Assistants are largely responsible for special teams, so I don't even fault Housley in that department. Perhaps Keefe is the next great one, I would certainly sign up for that, but no one else even remotely intrigues me.

Where the really good coaches shine is coaching offensive zone tactics. I definitely think we are a below league average team in offensive zone possession and scoring chance creation, but to be honest that can also be attributed to the personnel we employ like Larsson, Sobotka, Girgs, and a bunch of young guys still finding their way. I mean seriously, when I was 19 there is no way I'm standing in front of Scandella's reach-for-the-stars slap shot while Shea Weber is cross checking my spine into submission.

I just don't think a coaching change to a non-elite coach really moves the needle for this group.

 

[Samsonite23]

1) Quenneville

2) Keefe

3) Ralph Krueger

But, I'm going to guess that Chris Taylor is the next Sabres head coach.

I'm a Chris Taylor fan. But if Botts does that, he is insane. The options out there are too good to pass up right now.